Nikki Haley in Jerusalem: We Won’t Let UN Bully Israel Any More

GettyDEBORAH DANAN7 Jun 2017

TEL AVIV – On a visit to Israel, Washington’s ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley slammed the international organization for “bullying” Israel and assured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. has the Jewish state’s back.

Haley, who arrived Wednesday for a three-day visit, said she was “overwhelmed” by the positive response she has received since taking a stand against the anti-Israel bias at the international body.

“If there’s anything I have no patience for, it’s bullies,” Haley told Netanyahu, “and the UN was being such a bully to Israel because they could.”

“I think they know they can’t keep responding in the way they’ve been responding. They sense that the tone has changed,” she added.

Netanyahu thanked her for coming and for standing up for Israel and the “truth,” which he said “is standing up for America.”

“People appreciate truth,” he said. “We have an ancient Hebrew saying that when somebody tells a truth, you can feel it. So people feel it, they not only understand it, they feel it. And we feel it. We’re glad to see the fruits of your efforts, uncommon common sense.”

Netanyahu said that President Donald Trump and Haley have “changed the discourse, have drawn new standards, and everybody’s taking [them] up, and that’s great. I think it makes a world of difference, both for Israel and the U.S.”

President Reuven Rivlin, who also welcomed Haley to the country, said that her efforts have meant that “Israel is no longer alone in the UN, Israel is no longer the UN’s punching bag.”

However, Rivlin added “there is still a long way to go,” both in terms of anti-Israel statements issued by UN agencies and the “absurd” number of sessions and resolutions reprimanding Israel.

Haley reiterated her assurances to Netanyahu that “we are not going to let that happen anymore.”

“It is a new day for Israel in the United Nations,” she said.

Haley flew to Israel from Geneva, where she threatened the UN Human Rights Council that the U.S. will bow out as a member state unless the Council commits to ending its anti-Israel bias. She added that she hoped “it will be a new day at the Human Rights Council when it comes to Israel.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who was in attendance at the ceremony, presented Haley with a 1,400-year-old pendant showing an ancient menorah found during an archaeological dig at the City of David in Jerusalem.

“On behalf of the Israeli public I thank you for your many actions to correct the bias against Israel at the UN and to fight for the truth,” she said. “The disgraceful efforts at the UN to surrender to Palestinian propaganda and sever the ties between the Jewish people and Jerusalem can end when the U.S. leads a change in the UN’s direction.”